Challenge #02146-E317: The Wrong Kind of Smart

"Look, it's very simple. Knowledge equals power, right? So it makes much more sense to reward people who are well educated, as well as people who can help apply that education for the benefit of everyone else."

"They ask too many questions." -- Anon Guest

Knowledge may be power, but an education is like a disease. As soon as you've got one, there's a compelled desire to spread it around. It's one of the reasons why you find oligarchies, plutocracies, theocracies, monocracies, democracies... but no educhrocies. That, and you need a certain, specific kind of stupidity to want control over an entire country in the first place.

This is why people who are thrust into power generally do better than those who strive for it. Once the power is obtained, the corollary responsibility sneaks up from behind with consequences instead of daggers. People who are educated learn this, and studiously attempt to avoid such things.

Then there's the paradox of attaining power whilst preventing others from reaching the same heights. A person with sufficient education does, indeed, want more of the same, but they also share. They share abundantly. They share indiscriminately. Sharing is their way of showing off. In the process of showing off, they disseminate small nuggets of power to anyone who cares to listen. Then there's the biggest problem with an educhrocy. Once a person is trained to ask questions, they never stop.